


I'm Closing My Eyes To See Us

by Atumun15



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Dubiously platonic Woochan, M/M, Mermaid! Woojin, Mermaids, Mermay special, Sad Ending, Show mermaid/Human! Chan, Woojin has a big decision, end of world, they're not actually romantically involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 08:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19002418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atumun15/pseuds/Atumun15
Summary: This was his home, and he’d do anything to keep it safe.





	I'm Closing My Eyes To See Us

 

 

Down below the waves, deep beneath the coral reefs and the mountains of land littered with critters scavenging for food but only to find the plastic and horrors of the world above, resided a society much more intelligent and farther along than anyone could dream for the human world. A society that cared deeply for politics but not any more than the interest of their people. A society that cared deeply for the love and bond between two souls and the relationship between the tiniest of fish and the entire universe.

 

This society lived half as humans and half as fish, tails as their lower halves, scales and gills all across their skin to breathe, and an impossible amount of strength that put bodybuilders to shame. Their intelligence rendered unfathomable due to their ability to speak multiple languages, not only the quiet screeching of their own tongues but the multitude of ones along with the human world as well.

 

Humans, while a few claimed to know of the merfolk’s existence, didn’t quite understand how a species like theirs could exist. None of them really bothered learning about the ocean, and those who found merfolk either didn’t live to tell the tale or just simply weren’t believed, so the mermaids didn’t need to worry about them. The humans could never directly hurt them or try and wipe them out, but it seemed they already caused more damage than they could ever really understand.

 

Even with the plethora of books and knowledge the merfolk owned about the human world and what came with it, they had never seen them cause as much damage as they had over the course of the last few decades. The ocean, the mighty spirit that wouldn’t ever go down without a fight, was dying, and now the merfolk had to step in and save it.

 

Even if it meant the destruction of the human world.

 

That’s why Kim Woojin, military chief and one of the strongest mermaids to swim the seas found himself on the coast of one of the larger islands, Sydney, Australia, to study the human world a bit more in-depth and decide if they could make the change themselves before the merfolk decide to take it into their own hands.

 

Once raven hair, opal eyes void of a pupil and gray skin turned to slightly darker brown toned hair, black eyes, and honey skin as he ventured out of the small cave he transformed in. Most merfolk blended in with the human crowd regularly, but for them, it served as a vacation where they didn’t quite pay attention to what happened around them. Luckily though, merfolk outranked humans in politeness and left clothes for whoever decided to visit next, this small cave the joint between the human world and the sea. Caves like this lingered everywhere, but they all relatively looked the same.

 

Woojin slipped on the clothes with ease, finding discomfort in the rough, stiff material of the swim shorts and the cotton of the black t-shirt against his chest. Despite taking on a human body, some merfolk still suffered from lingering scales a long certain parts of their bodies. Regularly, they blended into the skin, but the texture still didn’t quite enjoy the feeling of clothes.

 

After that, he waltzed out onto the shore with sandals in his hand and the hot sun beamed down on Woojin from above, the mermaid basking in the warmth and letting his toes curl into the sand. Woojin loved the ocean more than anything in the world, but it wasn’t common he got to enjoy the warmth of the sun without having to worry about being caught. “Go enjoy the sun, brother. The ocean will always be waiting for you.” Seungmin’s, Woojin’s younger brother, words echoed in his head and Woojin allowed his shoulders to drop and the tension flood out of his body.

 

However, even as he allowed his body to drop to the sand so he could watch the sun begin to set over the horizon, the thought of the ocean maybe not existing at one point or another if they can’t save it from the damaging hands of the humans bounced off of his mind and Woojin felt the tension flood back through his body.

 

They lingered all around him, couples, families, teenagers, little kids, the elderly, a whole variety of people lingered on the beach that fateful Saturday evening and Woojin studied them all intensely. He recognized a few of them cooking on the grill, using plates that would no doubt plague the earth later on, and Woojin felt his fingers twitch at all the familiar red plastic cups that more than enough sea life choked on only to lose their lives moments later. Those fucking red plastic cups…

 

Woojin found that he couldn’t sit around and watch these people trash the earth so left the beach, deciding to come back later to help clean up the absolute mess that would no doubt be left there once everyone decided to go home. So, he ventured the streets for a while, moving with the general flow of people along the sidewalks until he decided to actually look inside shops, and then he cursed to himself when he realized he didn’t have any human currency on him. This would be a lot harder than he thought.

  
However, he still walked around, and he still acted as if he were human, but a brick building a few doors down caught Woojin’s attention and he found himself wondering toward it in fascination. The neon sign outside was that of a crab holding jeweled shells, but Woojin couldn’t make out the name of the place due to the dullness of the sign underneath the dark, night sky. Woojin still found himself opening the door anyhow and waltzed down the steps with ease, used to the natural wobbliness in his legs.

 

Down beneath the building was a large room. The place appeared to be a club of sorts, but it hadn’t been very loud. There were turquoise and purple neon lights consuming the room full of adults with glasses of alcohol in their hands and fancy clothing draped across their bodies. What caught Woojin’s attention was the fact that the walls were made of glass, aquariums lining the entire room and a recipe for disaster if the glass ever cracked. Woojin eyed them with irritation, seeing the fish taken from their homes swimming all around them and the many many people gaping at them and tapping against the glass. Woojin wasn’t even next to them but could hear the loud thumping from across the room that made him wince.

 

As if that weren’t bad enough, Woojin’s heart filled with immense fear when he caught the image of a maroon and gold mermaid tail fin swish in the water above the crowd of people. Did the humans know about them and just didn’t give any tell tales about it? Had they captured their own? The anxiety in Woojin’s heart caused him to act a bit irrationally, pushing his way through the crowd and hissing toward the humans cursing at him. Woojin had much more important matters to tend to then to the feelings of the people who trashed his world and single handly causing the death of the ocean.

 

Once Woojin broke through the crowd, the sight of a male with jewels hanging around his neck, a seashell crown on top of his mop of blonde hair and a tail that seemed to go on for half of a mermaid’s original tale length, Woojin relaxed. Woojin vaguely remembers reading about human’s infatuation with their kind, sometimes taking on their identities and making money off of it. This was probably one of them.

 

The music pumped in his ears, Woojin unable to stop staring at the man swirling his tail around to show the glimmering scales, and it seemed the man noticed. The blond locked eyes with Woojin and shot him a wink after looking him up and down once, already attracted to the sight he could see through the warped glass. However, their tiny moment didn’t last long as Woojin heard someone call out to him from across the club and Woojin turned and walked away without another word, oblivious to the curious frown on the mermaid’s face.

 

Woojin gravitated toward one of the tall tables once he caught sight of a very familiar male with sharp eyes, but a soft nose and mouth structure. “Minho,” Woojin nodded toward him as he climbed up into the chair, taking the glass Minho slid toward him without question. The colonies down below had certain government officials on land to make sure nothing too severe happened that could put the mermaid world at jeopardy, and Minho was one of the few in Woojin’s district. Sure, they could go off of Minho’s intel, but there’s a risk Minho has become attached to the human world so, with a situation as delicate as this one, they had to send up a fresh pair of eyes.

 

“How are you, Woojin?” Minho questioned with a small grin and Woojin shrugged in response. What was he supposed to say? He didn’t exactly want to be here. He didn’t want to be on this Earth with the people destroying his home. If Woojin didn’t have to study the human world, he would have flooded it yesterday and slept with hope for the future.

 

But fate doesn’t work that way.

 

“Are you nervous? About being up here?”

 

“No.” Woojin snipped, taking another sip of the alcohol and reveling in the burn down his throat. “I don’t even want to be here. I’ve already made my decision.” Silence fell over them after that, tense and unforgiving.

 

“You know… I’ve been living here for a while, but I’d do anything to go back… the people here are shitty and treat each other awfully when someone is even slightly different from them. They can’t take care of the environment they live in, and they think they have to control everyone else around them so they’re lives are perfect.” The ice in the glass Minho held clinked against the glass as he twirled it around bitterly. “I hope they flood.”

 

Woojin was glad Minho felt the same. “What do I need to know about this place?” Woojin looked around in curiosity, seeing that the blonde from before was no longer in the water.

 

But before Minho could get into his guide to the human world, someone bigger than the both of them and a bitter gleam to his eye. “You,” The Man gruffed out, pointing toward Woojin. “Come with me. One of the performers wants to speak with you.” Woojin glanced toward Minho in caution but the younger just grinned from ear to ear.

 

“Go on, Woojin.” Minho waved him off, but not before sliding a phone across the table with a slip of paper. “Here. My contact information is already there and the address is right there. Be home before it’s too late, yeah?” Minho murmured before walking off, buttoning up his suit jacket as he escaped through the front door and Woojin was left with a phone, a piece of paper, and a man looking way too pissed about having to wait.

 

“Come on,” The man grumbled, nudging Woojin along And the mermaid scowled at the roughness. _Since when did people stop having manners?_ Woojin was lead into one of the backrooms, furniture lined with velvet and red sheer along the walls. It looked straight out of a queen’s castle if Woojin were honest. Woojin and the guy who escorted him back there stood in the doorway in confusion. “Chan? I have your guy,” The man from behind him yelled out in a much softer tone than he used with anyone else and Woojin snarled his nose up in disdain. These people were wasting his time.

 

Suddenly, the man from the water tank, Chan, came out from behind some sheer curtains, Woojin only noticing the door on the other side of the door when it was brought to his attention. “Thanks, Shownu,” Chan murmured softly, fingers fiddling with his shell earrings to take them out and the man beside Woojin nodded shyly, bowing a bit before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. When the silence hit them, Chan spoke up again. “I’m sorry if he was a bit rough with you. He’s protective.”

 

“Are you two…”

 

“Together?” Chan hummed, not looking toward Woojin but could see when Woojin nodded out of the corner of his eye. Chan sighed and turned around, resting his chin on his folded arms on the back of his chair. “No,” Chan breathed. “He has a thing for me though. I wouldn’t keep him around for the sake of his sanity but he keeps the creepy guys away. So… I guess I’m just selfish,” Chan mused.

 

Woojin hadn’t met many humans in his lifetime, but this one intrigued him.

 

“So… Who are you? I’ve never seen you here before and I saw you talking to Minho. Did you just arrive in town?” Chan questioned out of curiosity. Too much curiosity for Woojin’s liking. He wasn’t here to make friends.”

 

“How do you know Minho?” Woojin fired back, crossing his arms over his chest. Chan laughed lowly, nodding his head in understanding.

 

“Alright, I get it. Keep your secrets.” Chan hushed, turning back around to wipe off his makeup. “He’s a regular. We’ve spoken a few times but he seems pretty shy. I think he just comes here to not feel so alone.” Woojin eyed Chan wearily. He wouldn’t put that past Minho. He knew he struggled up here away from Seungmin, Woojin’s brother but also Minho’s soulmate, but Minho wasn’t one to make friends either. It just wasn’t who he was.

 

“I’m Woojin.”

 

Chan wore a Cheshire Cat-like grin when Woojin finally introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Woojin. Do you mind waiting around? My shift is over but I just have to get dressed. I’d like to speak with you a bit more,” Chan seemed shy when asking, and as much as Woojin knew he should say no, he simply sat down on the edge of a chair in the corner stiffly and watching Chan take off his show makeup. “Thank you,” Chan hummed, voice barely above a whisper when he spoke before he swiveled back around, turning up the music already playing and singing along beautifully.

 

Woojin loved music. He loved listening to people sing. Jisung had the most beautiful voice and Woojin absolutely adored listening to him. “You have a beautiful voice,” Woojin complimented with a stable tone between song change, and Chan blushed in response.

 

“Thank you.” Chan stood up from his chair, thumbing through his clothes before he found a sheer white tank top with a lace collar and black buttons, and a pair of black skinny jeans with rips all along the legs. Chan pulled the look off well, especially with a pair of black studs in his ears and black combat boots his jeans tucked into. “Do you want to borrow some clothes? Those swim trunks can’t be comfortable.”

 

Chan didn’t really give Woojin a chance to answer before he started going through the small closet in the corner and pulling out a pair of jeans and boots for Woojin as well. “Will these fit?”

 

“Not perfectly but I think we’re around the same size. Just try them on,” Chan shooed him off into the bathroom.

 

“We just met…” Woojin trailed off, sighing when the door shut in his face.

 

“I don’t care. Try them on,” Chan demanded and Woojin huffed, debating knocking down both the door and Chan and escape, but Woojin decided to just give the human what he wanted and tried on the clothes. Humans were so weird. “Do they fit?” Chan called out after a while, and Woojin didn’t verbally answer, finishing tying his shoes before he pulled open the door to reveal the slightly short jeans and too tight shoes but Woojin didn’t mind too much. Chan seemed happy seeing him in his clothes so Woojin didn’t try and get rid of that happiness in any way.

 

“Where are we going?” Woojin dared to ask, allowing Chan to pull him along around back and out through the back door where a few staff members stood smoking.

 

“Where would you like to go?” Chan decided to put the decision on Woojin as he already kind of forced the mermaid to wait on him and change clothes so Chan didn’t feel so overdressed next to him. Woojin pondered for a moment, not sure what he could say that wouldn’t make Chan feel uncomfortable or bored. Though, he probably shouldn’t hold any mercy for the human considering he’s the one that dragged Woojin along anyway.

 

“The beach?” Woojin could see if everyone had left already and start picking up the mess they no doubt left behind. Chan’s eyes lit up.

 

“Let’s go. It’s cold outside and its late so it’ll be empty. Perfect.” Chan grinned and tugged Woojin along, but it only really seemed as if they were holding hands because Woojin managed to keep up quite well. “Tell me about yourself,” Chan attempted to start a conversation, but Woojin was eerily silent. “It can even be small things, like your favorite color, your favorite food, your favorite movie…” Chan bumped his shoulder against Woojin’s shyly to get Woojin to lighten up a bit.

 

“My favorite color is red, my favorite food is lobster, and I don’t have a favorite movie…” Woojin’s pout reminded Chan of a grandpa if he were honest, and he found it entirely endearing.

 

“Okay, are you more of a TV show man, then?”

 

Woojin’s eyebrows only furrowed in further confusion and Chan found that his own sprung up in shock.

 

“Books?”

 

This was something Woojin could talk about. “Ah yes. You probably won’t know it but it’s called _Greatness In The Eyes Of The Beholder_. It’s about a woman who drags herself out from the depths of the sea after being drowned and tries her best to settle the balance of the universe,” Woojin explained in a hushed tone, smiling softly to himself as he spoke about it. “It doesn’t sound like much, but seeing her struggle to fix something when she can only make so much impact is empowering because no matter what situation you’re in, there’s always a chance to fix it and mold it however you need to be.”

 

“Very insightful. You were right though. I’ve never heard of it,” Chan flushed, but his smile was bright and lovesick and Woojin knew he needed to knock it down a notch, taking his hand from Chan’s grip and letting it slip into the pockets of his jeans. Woojin had already said too much if he were honest. What if Chan actually looked up the book? Surely he would ask questions when nothing came up…

 

Woojin couldn’t think about this now. This would be the last time he would see Chan and-

 

“Can I get your number? You seem cool and I want to get to know you more,” Chan questioned casually pulling out his phone from his back pocket, but Woojin gulped. He didn’t even know he _had_ a number.

 

“How about next time, hm?” Woojin improvised and while Chan deflated for a moment, he quickly perked up at the idea of a next time.

 

“You want to meet up again?”

 

Woojin didn’t give him an answer, picking up his speed when they finally reached the beach and he didn’t hesitate to start picking up the trash he saw.

 

“What on earth…” Chan trailed off in confusion, eyebrows furrowed and lips pouted. Woojin simply kept on picking up trash until his arms were full.

 

“Trash…” Shit. Woojin forgot the English word for the places where humans put their garbage. Chan giggled a bit and pointed over to wooden boxes dotted throughout the coastline and Woojin practically rushed over, attempting to bend down to pick up more trash but only causing some already in his arms to fall back out onto the ground. Woojin growled in frustration, stopping when a hand bent down to pick up the remaining.

 

“I’ve got it.” Woojin huffed and nodded in Chan’s direction, storming off back over to the trash can and glaring down at every other piece of trash along the way, Chan picking it up to appease the man. “You must really care about the earth, huh?” Chan couldn’t even begin to understand how big of a deal it was to take care of their earth. To take care of the very thing that keeps them alive. Woojin would never understand why humans couldn’t see they were damaging not only nature’s future but their own as well with their carelessness.

 

“Yes…” Woojin muttered, dumping the contents in his arms into the plastic bag inside the wooden box. “The earth is important. It’s what keeps us alive.”

 

Woojin flinched when Chan clapped his hands once, a laugh bursting from the depths of his throat. Woojin had to clench his fist to keep himself from hurting Chan when the blonde decided to cup his face. “You’re a very insightful man, Woojin. If I didn’t have morals, I’d probably take you back to my place just because of your brain alone.” And if Woojin were human, he probably would have understood what Chan implied with that, but Woojin didn’t quite understand the culture of the human world. He didn’t _want_ to if he were honest. “But alas…” Chan breathed out with an amused smile, patting Woojin’s cheeks before pulling away.

 

Woojin didn’t say anything more after that, going to pick up all the trash still on the beach, going back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth until he was satisfied with the cleanliness of the beach. Woojin checked the sand one more time before Chan grunted and fell back onto the sand, not caring if it ruined his outfit as he spread out like an eagle. “Weak,” Woojin commented as he hovered over Chan’s head, a pout to his lips and no sort of amusement in his eyes.

 

Chan just gaped up at him in shock, “You’re seriously not exhausted?” Woojin nodded his head, not even a bead of sweat on his forehead. Woojin’s strength was impeccable as a mermaid, and even if he was a bit weaker as a human, he was still abnormally strong. “Well then, Batman, sit down. I’m not moving for a while and I want to feel the breeze.” Woojin didn’t ask who Batman was, nor did he try and argue with the human, sitting down in the sand with his legs straight out and back straight. He looked like a robot with his arms folded in his lap.

 

So much so that Chan couldn’t help but observe him and think of his backstory.

 

“Odd, odd man.”

  


Woojin managed to find Minho’s apartment before the moon begins to make it’s full cycle thanks to the help of Chan. Of course, the blond was a bit perturbed at Woojin’s obliviousness to the basic technology he had in his pockets, but Chan didn’t tease him too much. Woojin was secretive, and they had just met so Chan didn’t know his story, didn’t know where he came from. Chan had no room to judge. “I think this is it…” Chan trailed off with a cough, knocking on the apartment building door labeled 209 and rocked on the balls of his feet as they waited.

 

Soon enough, Minho opened the door wearing a gray, fuzzy robe looking as if she just woke up. “Oh. Hello, Chris,” Minho greeted quietly, bowing a bit in the elder’s direction once he got over the initial shock. “I knew you had taken Woojin for a moment but I didn’t realize you’d be bringing him home.” Minho murmured, eyeing Woojin with a scowl once Woojin met his gaze. Woojin flickered his gaze down to his shoes like a kicked puppy.

 

“He didn’t exactly know where to go. You should have given him better directions, Minho,” Chan scolded light heartedly, smiling softly with his eyes shifted into crescents and dimples on display. Minho laughed quietly and looked toward Woojin.

 

“I guess so…” Minho hushed, cupping Woojin’s chin so the elder was looking at him, “Come on, you big sea lion,” Minho cooed, coaxing Woojin into the apartment and watching the way Chan pouted slightly at Woojin’s retreating figure without so much as a goodbye. “Thank you for bringing him, Chris. He’s a bit of a mess even if he seems composed,” Minho laughed a bit, glancing back into his apartment to see Woojin studying items in interest.

 

“It’s not a problem-”

 

“Have a good night, Chris,” Minho cut off before Chan could continue, going to close the door with a bow when Chan murmured out a weak,

 

“You too…”

 

If it hadn’t been so late and Minho hadn’t been so exhausted, Woojin would have probably been well in for it, but Minho couldn’t really register anything else aside from the fact that Woojin looked so adorable observing the statue of a starfish and that this was the first time Minho’s seen one of his kind in over a year. Deep down, Minho wished it were Seungmin, but Woojin was one of his best friends too so he was thankful nonetheless. “Put that down, Woojin,” Minho hushed in exhaustion, placing his hand on top of the statue and slowly lowering it back down to the table. “It’s breakable and expensive.”

 

“Sorry…”

 

“What were you doing with Chan, hm? You know you can’t get attached to anyone, Woojin. It’s dangerous. It could jeopardize everything.” Minho questioned in a soft tone, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he studied Woojin’s curious eyes raking over a painting of the light tower on the other side of the city.

 

“I’m not getting attached. I’m evaluating how much people care. It requires some sort of social interaction, Minho,” Woojin retorted, fingers digging into the bowl of seashells and pulling one out to roll between his fingers. Silence.

 

While the silence was tense, Woojin didn’t even think about it when Minho circled his arms around Woojin’s torso from behind and buried his face into Woojin’s neck. “I missed you.”

 

Woojin slowly turned on his heels and carefully took Minho into his arms, sensing his vulnerability. “It’s nice to see you again, Minho.” Silence draped over them like a comfortable blanket and Woojin found himself falling into that same vulnerability. “God, it’s only been a few hours and I already miss Jisung. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”

 

That must have been Minho’s breaking point because suddenly the tears wouldn’t stop rolling and Woojin was left tugging a limp man tighter into his arms to keep him stable. Minho missed Seungmin so much. He missed his smile, his laugh, his voice, his singing, his mind, his everything. Minho needed Seungmin more than he’d ever admit to anyone aside from himself and maybe the man in question. Minho missed his home. “I miss him so much.”

 

“I know… I know… You’re not going to have to wait much longer. The flooding will happen soon and you can go home to Seungmin and get married and have a kid. I know you two have been dying to have them.”

 

Minho went quiet for a moment, sniffling a few times before he croaked out an “I need to see him.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do, Minho.”

 

Minho pulled away after that, running his hands down Woojin’s chest with glossed over eyes, a sniffle, and a heavy chest. “I’ll go get you some clothes so you can change. The guest room is set up but…”

 

“I’ll stay with you tonight if you want.” Woojin offered, already knowing what the younger needed. Minho acted tough, but he was sensitive. Minho croaked out a word of gratitude and guided Woojin into his bedroom, shutting off the living room lights on their way out. No other words were exchanged as Minho handed him a tank top and a pair of cotton shorts, Woojin not hesitating to change when the younger dropped his robe from his half-naked figure and climbed into bed. This wasn’t weird to them. It wasn’t in their culture for it to be weird.

 

Human culture and Mermaid culture were very, very different, and Woojin wondered if Minho could still make that difference when he arrived back to the colonies and took his placement as governor.

 

“Hey, Minho…” Woojin trailed off, staring at the ceiling an hour later. Minho grumbled and turned over to face the elder, Woojin tilting his head to look at the younger.

 

“What, Hyung?”

 

“What’s Batman?”

 

Minho groaned loudly, “Jesus Christ, go to sleep, Woojin.”

  


Woojin tried his best to remember everything Minho told him those mornings before he set off to visit and interact with the humans. Woojin didn’t realize how filthy they were until he really studied their environment. The vehicles let out dark gray smoke that infiltrated the air, the streets were covered in diseased rats and consumeristic waste that made Woojin snarl his nose up. Minho said he was going to take him to the landfill soon so he could see the degree of the amount of trash and wasted material humans produced. It was bad enough in the ocean, Woojin couldn’t imagine what the actual land looked like.

 

It made him angry. Humans claimed to be the most caring souls around, but yet they destroy everything they touch. They claim that they made the earth better, that they made the environment better, that they helped improve everything, but Woojin believed that if the earth truly had a mind of its own, a soul of its own, it could overthrow the human race in a heartbeat and take back its youth.

 

Woojin just needed to give the earth that little nudge. The confidence to do so. And Woojin didn’t have a single problem doing that either. However, after a long day of walking around and studying the society human’s lived in, it could be presumed that Woojin would go straight back to Minho’s apartment, but he found himself climbing the stairs of the club with the crab holding jewels peering down at Woojin in judgment. Woojin didn’t know why he came back, but he found himself stood in the middle of the club anyway.

 

There were more people there that night, and that meant there were more show mermaids on display in the tanks surrounding the underground club. Chan was there, as beautiful as ever in his maroon and gold tail, but after receiving a wink from the blond, Woojin moved onto the other four show mermaids throughout the room. Two of them, taller and more soft and feminine in the face, were entertaining together, pretending to fight and outrace each other in the tank, but Woojin frowned at how _slow_ they were.

 

Woojin had to remind himself that humans weren’t as strong as mermaids frequently.

 

The mermaids inside the tank, joking around and racing each other, took a break and took some air from the hose they placed in the water for the show mermaids, and during this time, they locked eyes with Woojin. Oddly enough, their attention immediately swirled around Woojin and they crowded the glass, waving and blowing kisses. Woojin returned the wave with a small, amused smile, but before he could jokingly blow a kiss back, the fourth mermaid with a plum-colored tail suddenly invaded the other two’s personal space, pointing over in Chan’s direction. The four males whirled around to see Chan glaring at the two previous show mermaids with his arms crossed over his chest.

 

Woojin eyed Chan in confusion, but when he turned back to the other three show mermaids, they gestured for him to go back over to Chan and Woojin didn’t fight it. He made his way back over to the tank, taking a glass of some sort of alcohol from a passing waiter and leaning against a pole to watch Chan interact with the crowd with a much more content gleam in his eyes. “Didn’t expect to find you here again…” Minho spoke up from behind Woojin, holding a glass of his own in his smaller hands. “I thought we weren’t getting attached.”

 

“We’re not. This whole ordeal just intrigues me,” Woojin murmured, and Minho hummed and nodded in understanding.

 

“It was hard for me to wrap my head around too. I actually started working here when I first started living here. The previous owner thought I was pretty and it’s good money,” Minho shrugged. “They’re obsessed with us. They think we’re a myth, but a pretty myth nonetheless.” Woojin took a large gulp from his glass. He didn’t want to be an entertainment source for these monsters.

 

“Do you still perform?”

 

“I run the place now actually.” That felt like a stab in the chest for Woojin. “I know it doesn’t look good for us, but they’re happy. They would leave if they weren’t. The humans have no idea we exist,” Minho hushed, rubbing his hand across Woojin’s shoulders in comfort. “It’s evident when you’re in that tank and looking at them watch you as if you’re made of magic. It’s relieving.” Woojin isn’t quite sure he’d ever feel the same, but that was aside the point. “We get to just be ourselves without too much of a purpose. It’s pretty nice once you get used to it.”

 

“It doesn’t matter now. They won’t be around much longer anyway,” Woojin muttered bitterly, finishing off the glass and handing it to the younger mermaid. “Get your brain in line, governor. You’re attached to something that won’t be around by the end of the month.” Minho watched Woojin leave with a hopeless expression, saddened by the formalities. Minho knew he fucked up just from that alone.

 

Woojin left the club without even sparing Chan another look, knowing he needs to become detached as well if he wants to prove to be an example for Minho. Woojin couldn’t go back to the apartment yet. He needed to feel something familiar. He needed to feel home. So, Woojin went to the beach, not caring if other people were there. He didn’t care that they gave him weird looks as he cleaned up their mess. They were destroying the earth and he couldn’t wait to destroy them. “Hey, man, you really don’t have to do that,” One of them called out to Woojin, But the elder just ignored him. Woojin kept picking up their stuff, not caring if he was slowly pissing them off while doing so. “Listen man, this is really fucking unnecessary. Just fuck off.”

 

“You’re killing the earth, and it saves you from having to do shit later. Just go with it,” Woojin growled, eyebrows furrowed and lip snarled up in an intimidating manner, but it seemed the other guy was too off his rockers to see the obvious muscle definition in Woojin’s body. Instead, the drunk guy came swinging at Woojin, anger evident in his eyes.

 

“You’re one of those pussies, huh? One of those liberals that hug trees?” The guy must have thought he was winning for some reason despite not landing a punch on Woojin yet. It was only when Woojin couldn’t dodge a flurry of them, that Woojin truly got angry. The human was obviously bigger than Woojin, but Woojin wasn’t exactly human and his strength was double the others. Woojin made the man look like a toddler with the way he ran full force toward his stomach and tackled the human to the ground.

 

Woojin didn’t say anything in retaliation, didn’t utter a fucking word as he landed a few but still very intense punches on the human before a group of three guys dragged him off. The human’s friends cornered Woojin for a moment, but due to how angry Woojin was, he fought his way out in a strategic manner. He was trained to fight sharks in the sea, ones much, much larger than him. Humans were nothing compared to a very angry shark. In fact, Woojin _was_ the angry shark in this situation.

 

“Hey! Hey! Cut it out! Before the cops get called!” Woojin heard the familiar voice ring out but didn’t think anything of it, shoving his way through the group of three boys only to kick one in the knees that came running at him, swinging two hard punches at the second’s head, and then headbutting the third one so hard, he’s pretty sure he heard a crack of bone breaking. “Fucking hell- Woojin! Woojin stop!” The familiar voice cried out again when Woojin went after them again, but he slumped a little when soft hands curled around his biceps and tugged him back. “Come on, Woojin. That’s enough. You’re going to kill one of them,” Chan pleaded when Woojin fought against his grip.

 

Woojin’s mind began to clear up, the thick, angry haze lifting and revealing a beach that looked like a murder scene. Due to the four guy’s injuries, blood was pretty much everywhere in the sand, and the four girls that were with him were backed up and whimpering in fear. Woojin thought he saw a camera but didn’t get to look before Chan whirled him around to speak to him. Woojin was too distracted by Chan’s muscle tee, shorts, and sliders to really register what was being said to him.

 

“Are you even listening to me?” Chan looked pissed, so Woojin didn’t answer. Chan rolled his eyes and took Woojin by the collar, dragging him away.

 

“Keep your guy in line, Bang!” One of the four guys called out after them. Chan whirled back around, anger evident in his eyes.

 

“Go fuck yourself on a fucking pike, Smith!” Chan hissed, stopping when Woojin placed a hand on his chest to keep Chan from walking any farther. “You had it coming,” Chan called out one more time before storming off, taking Woojin with him and gripping his shirt with a fierce, iron grip that wouldn’t give out so easily. However, Woojin placed his much larger hand on top of Chan’s after they were far enough away in hopes of getting him to calm down.

 

“Chan.”

 

“Fuck off.”

 

“Chan…”

 

Chan didn’t respond, and Woojin didn’t try again. They walked in silence, Chan eventually slowing down until they walked side by side and Woojin didn’t feel so suffocated by Chan’s anger. He wondered how long Chan stood there, how long he watched it happen, how he felt when it happen. Woojin wondered why he cared about any of this. Why did he care about a human? Woojin couldn’t answer that. “You’re such a fucking idiot,” Chan rasped, running a hand through his curls with stress evident in his features.

 

Woojin just peered at Chan in curiosity.

 

“You can’t just fight people, Woojin! That’s how you get thrown in jail. I know you care about the earth, but you can’t do anything behind bars.” Chan had a point, Woojin knew that, and Woojin knew that he couldn’t just fight “You almost murdered them too! You’re so fucking stupid!” Chan yelled the last part, punching a weak fist against Woojin’s chest. He ended up throwing a few more before Woojin tugged the younger into his torso and didn’t let go until Chan stopped trembling. “I know nothing about you, I don’t know your story, I don’t know your tendencies, but I know you’re not that stupid,” Chan whispered into Woojin’s shoulder, cheek squashed against the defined muscle.

 

“I’m sorry.” Why was Woojin apologizing? Why was he here with Chan? He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, end of the human race or not. Jisung’s heart would be broken if he saw Woojin doing this… “I should get going. I’m sorry for making you witness that.” However, before Woojin could walk away, Chan pulled him back in by the wrist, nearly chest to chest and sharing the same breath. Woojin didn’t get the chance to pull away from that either before Chan lifted his hand to wipe away some blood from a cut above Woojin’s left eyebrow.

 

“You’re not going anywhere. We need to treat these,” Chan murmured quietly, lips barely moving as he spoke.

 

“I can get Minho to treat them,” Woojin argued and Chan’s expression fell. Woojin almost felt bad at the sadness seeping from Chan. However, the man seemed to be determined and shook his head.

 

“Minho is back at the club and he’s probably not going to be home anytime soon. Just let me take care of you, Woojin,” Chan lied. He wanted Woojin, and he had no shame in admitting that. Besides, even if nothing came out of this, at least Chan could say he brought a handsome man back to his place. It made for a pretty, white lie. “Come on, Woojin…” Chan whined a bit, pouting cutely and peering up at the elder with shiny, puppy dog eyes and Woojin was always weak at the heart for those. Jisung knew that all too well.

 

“Alright, alright…” Woojin breathed out in exasperation, and Chan grinned, tugging Woojin along and toward Chan’s apartment.

 

The moon hung high in the sky when they reached the front door of Chan’s apartment, the younger sticking a key into the lock and unlocking it with ease. Woojin tried his best to keep his curiosity at bay when Chan turned on the lights and revealed a cluttered apartment with all sorts of knick-knacks all over the place. “I’m going to go grab a first aid kit. Feel free to look around,” Chan hushed, running a hand down Woojin’s spine as he walked away and Woojin watched him leave with a feeling of uncertainty bubbling in his chest.

 

However, Woojin was drawn to the many items Chan held in this tiny apartment, attracted to the plants, the blankets, the weird stones, children's toys shelved and seemingly untouched, and the many, many video games scattered throughout the apartment. It looked like an apartment for a man who grew up, but his soul was still childish. Much to Woojin’s delight, he found a puzzle box and sat himself down in one of the armchairs to fiddle with it. It seemed pretty easy, easier than any of the puzzle boxes down in the colonies, but it seemed his ease in figuring it out baffled Chan.

 

“How the hell…” Woojin glanced up at the blond in curiosity. “I’ve been trying to figure out that box for months! It was the hardest one I could find and yet here you are-” Chan waved wildly in Woojin’s direction, “solving it easily!”

 

Woojin smiled softly and bowed his head back toward the box in his lap. “Sometimes it helps to have a fresh pair of eyes,” Woojin murmured as Chan approached him, sliding between his legs as he sat down the first aid kit on the end table next to the chair.

 

“I can’t argue with that,” Chan hummed, pulling out some disinfectant, cotton swabs, and bandages. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say those guys really fucked you up,” Chan teased as he ran an alcohol-soaked q-tip over the cut above Woojin’s eyebrow before throwing it away and grabbing for a clean one to clean the cut on Woojin’s lip and cheek. “Does the alcohol not even bother you?”

 

“It stings a little, but I’ve felt worse,” Woojin admitted with a shrug and Chan scoffed.

 

“Alright, I get it. You’re a big strong man who feels no pain,” Chan grumbled, flattening a crisp, white bandage to the small cuts on Woojin’s face before pulling away. They didn’t realize how close they were until Chan stepped away from him to go into the kitchen.

 

Woojin felt like he was betraying Jisung every moment he was here with Chan.

 

Soon, Chan came back into the living room with a bag of frozen peas in hand and steps back into Woojin’s personal space to press the bag to a forming bruise on Woojin’s cheek. “Hold this for a while. It’ll keep down the swelling,” Chan whispered, melting when Woojin’s hand slipped on top of his own so he could take over. However, Chan didn’t move for a few moments, standing there and studying Woojin’s features. Jesus Christ was this man handsome. “You could be a model,” Chan purred, running the tip of his finger along Woojin’s uncovered cheek and Woojin coughed, shifting away and diverting his eyes elsewhere.

 

“Too bad I don’t want to be, right?” Woojin muttered and Chan took the hint as much as it hurt him and stepped away to sit down on the couch. “I should get going-”

 

“Please stay. It gets so quiet here and I…” Chan’s thumbs twiddled in embarrassment, “...And it’s so lonely….” the last part was said with the volume of barely a whisper, but Woojin still heard it and slumped back into his chair.

 

“Okay…” Chan’s eyes lit up at that, darting up to dig through his movies.

 

“You don’t mind watching a movie right?” Chan questioned shyly, holding a movie up to his chest like a child waiting to show their parents the drawing they did in art class that day. It as endearing, and Woojin had to remind himself that he couldn’t fall. He couldn’t get attached.

 

“Do what you want, Chan. I’m just here to keep you company,” Woojin hushed softly, offering the human a small smile in reassurane. Chan took in a deep breath and nodded, whirling around to face the tv and set it up so the DVD player was ready to take the movie Chan had in mind.

 

The movie was interesting enough to Woojin. It was about a man, something called a hobbit, who had to take a ring and destroy it because it was far too powerful for anyone else to handle it. Woojin found himself becoming a little too invested because, by the time the first movie was over, Woojin was frustrated that it didn’t continue. “So... I’m assuming you like it?” Chan questioned in amusement, but Woojin just glared at him.

 

“Play the next one,” Woojin demanded, and Chan threw his arms up in the air in surrender as he stood up.

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Woojin didn’t go back to Minho’s place until the following morning, groggy and his head splitting. Chan and him stayed up until 6 in the morning watching those movies, had breakfast, and then took a one hour nap together before Woojin finally left. Guilt still swirled around in his stomach from not only the amount of time they spent together, but Woojin still being able to feel the touch of Chan’s lips against his cheek when Woojin left.

 

Woojin tried not to think about it too much as he stepped into Minho’s apartment to find the mermaid standing in the hallway with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed. “Get your brain in check, governor. You’re attached to something that won’t last by the end of the month,” Minho mocked bitterly, lips pulled into a snarl.

 

“I know. I’m sorry.”

 

“Woojin you’re getting married in a few months and you’re messing around with a human boy! Are you insane?” Minho blew up in his face and Woojin reeled back in realization. Fuck. He really fucked up.

 

“I need to go back…” Woojin whispered, rubbing a hand down his face. “Minho, I need to go back,” Woojin uttered again and Minho sighed.

 

“You’re right, but you still have a job to do. Get changed. We’re going to the landfills this morning. You can go back and give updates afterward,” Minho ordered, not looking Woojin in the eye as he crossed his arms over his chest and left the main room. Woojin just watched him leave with a pang of even more intense guilt swirling around in his stomach.

 

However, that guilt develops into anger when the two reach the landfills. “Ah, you must be Woojin and Minho,” A voice called out to them when they reached the entrance, hopping out of the car and looking around. Minho nodded and held out his hand for the garbage man to shake and he took it gladly.

 

Woojin’s heart didn’t break until he stepped through the entrance and saw the piles, and piles, and piled of trash that went on for miles.

 

“Australia stopped burning their waste back in the mid 20th century, so most of the waste ends up in the landfills,” the man explains, gesturing to the mountains of trash, “most of this will take around 100 years for it to deteriorate.” Woojin felt sick to his stomach looking at it all.

 

“How many landfills are in Australia?” Minho questioned, but Woojin knew Minho already knew the answer.

 

“Around 600 managed ones, but there are around 2000 small unregistered ones as well…” The man kept talking after that, Woojin trying his best to listen but he found himself sickened by the place they walked around. “I know it looks bad, but our landfills are actually quite small compared to places like South Korea, America, and China. Would you guys like to walk around on your own?”

 

“Yes please,” Minho bowed respectively and the man nodded, walking off to leave the two mermaids alone to talk. Instead of talking right away, Minho walked around the piles with a sigh leaving his lips, hands clasped behind his back. “Do you see what they’re doing? Do you see the damage the humans are causing?” Woojin looked around like a child in a haunted house, clutching the clipboard in his hand tightly to his chest.

 

“It’s horrific… She’s in such a bad state,” Woojin whimpered, not liking seeing his home so torn up.

 

“There’s a reason I’ve been here for so long aside from regulations between the humans and our kind. We’ve been planning on flooding for a long time, but we’ve been trying to figure out what we’re going to do with all the material,” Minho uttered, “All of this will infect the ocean when we flood. Everything they build will infect the ocean when we flood, and we have to be prepared for that. We have to know what we’re going to do with all of it. That’s why I’m here,” Minho explained with a soft voice.

 

Woojin understood now.

 

“I know it’s hard not to get attached. Humans have this weird ability to make you feel like they’re worth more than they actually are and we’ve all be a prisoner to it. Trust me. I know you find him intriguing, and you probably care for him the slightest bit, but remember why you’re here.” Woojin understood. Woojin understood everything.

 

“Okay…” Woojin hushed, “Tell me how we’re going to take care of all of this,” Woojin requested.

 

“The deep sea colonies have agreed to allow most of the waste to hang out with them until they can throw it all in the core of the earth, but in the meantime, they’ll be pressurized into plates that can be used as building materials and we’ll make temporary homes for those who are struggling,” Minho explained, a small smile on his lips. “It’ll take a while, but it’ll be significant. The ocean will have her youth back sooner than we can imagine.”

 

“I should get going. Give them updates on what to do. I think I’m going to go ahead and tell them that I’m agreeing to the flood. Are you going to be okay with that?” Woojin questioned softly but Minho shot him a wicked smile.

 

“Destroy every inch of this place, Woojin, and do it with pride.”

  


Going back home after being in a foreign place for a while is a very new feeling. Sure, since Woojin was Chief in Command, he was constantly traveling to other colonies, but a week with humans was nothing like a few months in the deep sea colony where Woojin could barely see what he was looking at for weeks at a time. Coming back home felt nicer than anything Woojin could ever experience, and never had he been more thankful for having his tail back. He missed being able to go faster than everyone else, he missed how long and powerful it was, he missed the feeling of his scales.

 

He missed the feeling of another’s scales against his own.

 

However, Woojin couldn’t go home home just yet. He had to stop by the military base to give his updates before he could go see Jisung, and that alone irritated him to an extent. He just wanted to see Jisung, that was all he wanted. “Ah! Commander Kim! Welcome back,” Changbin, his right-hand man grinned from ear to ear, tail flicking in content at seeing his best friend. “What do you bring us?”

 

“A decision,” Woojin sighed, sitting down in his chair where all of his other sergeants and lieutenants began to pile in and join the discussion. “Thank you guys for joining me on such short notice, but I’ve come to a decision and I need someone to get it to the council before the end of the day,” Woojin boomed, sounding confident and loud in his tone, much like a commander should be. “I have decided to go through with the flooding.” He expected his men to break out into murmurs, but they all seemed to agree with him on the decision.

 

“What’s our next move, Commander?” Changbin spoke up in confidence.

 

“I’ll be stationing all of you in different colonies until the flooding is over. It’ll take all the manpower we can get,” Woojin explained, resting his hands on top of the stone table in the middle of the illuminated cave. “I hope all of you are ready for a new era. In her we breathe.”

 

“In her we breathe,” Woojin’s men chanted afterward, smiling and laughing as they left the room. Woojin watched them go, leaning back in his chair with a sigh and letting his hair swish for a second before he got up himself. He waited until he knew they were gone, not wanting to socialize anymore than he had to with anyone aside from Jisung. But that seemed to be a mistake all on it’s own. “Hello, captain, how can I help you?” Woojin bowed when a much older female, Woojin’s superior who trusted him far more than she should, entered the room with a spear strapped to her back.

 

“Welcome back, commander, did you enjoy your time up on the surface?”

 

“The humans are truly an interesting species,” Woojin sighed, sitting back down in his chair when she lowered herself down onto the chair beside him. “The stories are true you know?” The woman raised her eyebrows in curiosity, pulling a pack of clams from her bag and offering Woojin one. They both peeled one open and ate the internals before Woojin continued. “They destroy everything they touch. They don’t care for the earth at all. They’re selfish. They take, and take, and take, but they never give back.”

 

“I presume you made the decision to flood then?” The woman laughed lowly and Woojin nodded.

 

“It’ll be better for all of us if we go through with it.” Woojin sighed, peeling open another clam and inhaling it as if it were his last meal. “What do you need to me to do, Captain? Any rookies I need to train? Decisions to make?”

 

“Go home, Commander. You have a fiance waiting for you. Take tomorrow off too. You have to go back to the surface Monday morning to grab Minho and the rest of us who linger up there. Your decision was the last to come in and you broke the tie. They’re going through with the flooding.”

 

For some reason, that didn’t sound as pleasing as it probably should have, but Woojin was thankful she was allowing him to go home. “Thank you, captain. Have a good night. In her with breathe.”

 

“In her with breathe, commander.”

 

Woojin felt his heart speed up at a rapid pace when he saw his and Jisung’s shared house come into view, picking up his pace but being careful of the pedestrians swimming along the pathways in the city.

 

Jisung and Woojin met when they were younger, when they were babies to be exact. Woojin’s mother had been taking care of Jisung’s geode for the younger’s mother because of her busy schedule to provide a stable home life for the younger, and most of the time, she brought Woojin along to help with the small things to tending the geode. Apparently, Woojin had grown so attached to Jisung during his hatching, that the moment he got to hold the transparent tailed baby with the strings of a jely fish falling from his fins, he said “my little jellyfish” Oddly enough, those were his first words too.

 

They didn’t get together until they were in adults though, Woojin finally admitting his feelings when he joined the army and was stationed in the arctic colonies for a year. He didn’t want to leave without saying anything to Jisung, and much to Woojin’s delight, Jisung waited for him to come home with the promise of staying together for as long as fate allowed them.

 

They were soulmates.

 

“Jisung?” Woojin called out once he entered, hanging his small bag on one of the hooks as he heard a crash from the kitchen and Jisung coming out with soft, long hair, and wide endearing eyes that made Woojin’s heart skip a beat.

 

“Woojin!” He called out with a happy shriek, barreling toward him to twine his arms around Woojin’s neck and bury his face into Woojin’s shoulder. “I missed you,” Jisung whimpered quietly, and Woojin laughed quietly.

 

“I was only gone for a week, my little jellyfish,” Woojin hummed quietly, but Jisung pulled away with a pout and frustrated eyebrows.

 

“A week on land! On the surface! Who knows what could have happened!” Jisung argued, but Woojin just stared at him, endeared by his worry. Jisung grumbled a few curses under his breath when all he received was nothing but gentle nose nuzzles from Woojin. “Woojin! Stop being cute!”

 

“I haven’t been able to be with you for a week, jellyfish, let me love you,” Woojin rasped, feathering a kiss to Jisung’s forehead before bringing the boy into his chest. Jisung slumped with a sigh, cheek squashed up against Woojin’s chest as the elder began to hum a delightful tune. However, Jisung suddenly sprung up in alert after a moment.

 

“My food!” Jisung shrieked, racing back into the kitchen to grab his food from the hotspring it cooked on. “You see? This is what happens when you get affectionate. My food is ruined,” Jisung whined as he looked at the burnt fish, melting the slightest bit when Woojin twined his body around Jisung from behind, his webbed hands stroking along Jisung’s tummy. “You’re the worst.”

 

“Let me take you out tonight,” Woojin hushed, letting Jisung whirl around to twine his hands around Woojin’s neck to play with the hair there. “We can go somewhere nice, treat yourself to some alcohol…” Woojin purred, nosing along Jisung’s jaw soothingly. Jisung sighed and pressed a kiss to Woojin’s ear before speaking into it.

 

“That does sound kind of nice…” Jisung admitted and Woojin grinned, pulling back to kiss Jisung softly. “This sounds just as nice too,” Jisung grumbled against Woojin’s lips between pecks, earning a laugh from Woojin and a pat to the butt.

 

“Go grab your things. We’ll go now,” Woojin urged softly and Jisung grinned, backing away to swim into their shared room, no doubt putting on some of his jewelry so he looked his best, and Woojin lowered himself down onto the seaweed cushions piled up in the corner, practically curling into himself at the nice feeling against his skin. Woojin must have fallen asleep when his eyes fluttered shut because next thing he knew, Jisung was in his lap and pressing kisses against his shoulder.

 

“Wake up, Wooj,” Jisung coaxed gently and Woojin let out a breath of content as his eyes fluttered open. “Do you want to stay home? You look exhausted, Woojin,” Jisung murmured with a worried frown but Woojin just shook his head, patting Jisung’s back as he twirled Jisung’s necklace around his finger.

 

“You got all pretty for me. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t take you out?” Woojin smirked sleepily and Jisung flushed, beating his forehead against Woojin’s shoulder.

 

“Shut up, you big sea lion,” Jisung whined. But this only proved to be a mistake as Woojin suddenly lifted them up into the water and carried Jisung out through the front door. “Woojin! Woojin put me down!” Jisung shrieked loudly, slapping weakly against Woojin’s chest in retaliation. The two earned a few looks from strangers, but they were mostly looks of endearment and Woojin felt so much more comfortable here than he did on the shitty surface.

 

Woojin carried him all the way to the restaurant, not putting him down until they were seated and plates of food were set down in front of him. Jisung nearly salivated at the lobster in front of him.

 

“Oh my god it looks so good,” Jisung whined, immediatly digging in and Woojin just watched with a grin, eating his own food at the same pace. “I don’t deserve you,” Jisung groaned in the middle of bites, but Woojin slowly put down his own lobster and stared at the younger in disbelief.

 

“No, Jisung, I definitely don’t deserve _you_. I don’t think you realize how you make me feel,” Woojin hushed, seriously, and Jisung stopped eating as well, staring at Woojin with the same amount of disbelief. “You gave me a purpose…” Woojin hushed, grabbing for Jisung’s hand over the table but Jisung only tugged on Woojin’s own to pull him over and connect their lips in a desperate manner.

 

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” Jisung whispered, tears pulling in his eyes. “I’m so happy I get to be with you for the rest of my days, Kim Woojin.”

 

“As am I, Han Jisung.”

  
  


Not everybody gets to decide the fate of another. Not everybody will quite literally have a life in their hands. Some surgeons will hold the hearts of their patients, some parents will hold their baby for the first time, being careful and gentle as to not hurt them, and some government officials will make decisions that could put an entire country in jeopardy. Woojin wondered if they felt the same way he did now, after sitting in front of the council with his argument that the human world must be reset if they wished to see the ocean live another few centuries, if they felt a small amount of remorse for choosing what they did, and then being faced with the consequences later.

 

Woojin wished more than anything that he didn’t have to go back up to the surface to grab Minho and the rest of their kind living amongst the humans. He wished he could have sent someone else up so he didn’t have to face anything he’d face that evening, but that wasn’t his decision. This was his job as commander, these were his orders, and he had to follow through with them.

 

However, it might be a bit more bearable as his nightmare of a little brother joined him as a surprise for Minho, and Woojin felt giddy showing Seungmin around the small city Woojin took refuge in for a week before deciding if humans were worth the risk or not. Woojin came to the conclusion that some were, but most of them didn’t even deserve to last this long anyway, much less a decision like this. “Brother, they are very… odd,” Seungmin murmured with a frown, hands locked behind his back as he stared down a group of teenagers, probably Seungmin’s age if he were honest, and Woojin laughed a little bit.

 

“That is true… but they are the human version of you, little brother,” Woojin clapped him on the shoulder, Seungmin stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to gape at his walking brother with a scowl.

 

“You’re joking!”

 

“You know I don’t joke about the human world, little brother,” Woojin called out and winking in his direction, only earning himself a huff before Seungmin caught up to him with ease. “Don’t be too scared of them though. We are stronger than all of them, even as humans,” Woojin reassured when Seungmin would flinch every time a human walked past. Seungmin relaxed a tiny bit, but not enough for Woojin’s liking. The elder figured that Seungmin wouldn’t be fully comfortable until he saw Minho again. “Are you ready to see him?”

 

“More than anything in the world, brother,” Seungmin hushed, and Woojin nodded and smiled, leading the younger down into the club early in the morning, praying to the heavens above that Chan hadn’t been there. It seemed fate was on his side as the only person in the club was Minho, and he was sat at one of the high tables counting money and writing stuff down in a notebook.

 

“Morning, Minho,” Woojin greeted, huffing a bit in frustration when Minho didn't look up.

 

“Welcome back, commander. How was your weekend? Spend lots of time with Jisung?” Minho teased, biting on his thumbnail as he glanced over the numbers he wrote now. The club was growing in popularity and the money that came in was impressive considering the state it used to be in before Minho became the owner.

 

“Mhm. Saw my brother too.” Woojin tried his best to just get Minho to look up but nothing was working.

 

It seemed Seungmin had enough too, “I can’t _believe_ numbers are more important than the love of your life right now, Lee Minho,” Seungmin spoke up with a snarl and that did the trick. Minho snapped his head up in disbelief, blinking at Seungmin as if he expected him to evaporate into thin air, even removing his glasses to really test his theory.

 

“Gods above…” Minho breathed out, slowly setting down his pen before getting up from his chair in hesitance. It seemed as if Minho thought he was dreaming. “Please don’t tell me this is some sort of joke-” Minho started, a crack to his tone but Seungmin shot forward, not wanting to wait any longer than he already has, and locked their lips together. It took Minho a second to realize but when he did, he twined his arms around Seungmin’s small middle and pulled him in close, tears leaking from his eyes as they kissed. “I missed you so much, my love,” Minho whimpered into Seungmin’s lips between breaths, and Seungmin began to break down too.

 

“Never again, Lee Minho. I’ll hunt you down and murder you if you leave like that again.”

 

Woojin decided they needed some privacy of their own, going to leave. However, he made it to the front door before it swung open, revealing an all too familiar blonde carrying a bag of clothes and a tail on his back. “You fucking-” Chan cursed, reaching forward to grab Woojin by the collar and drag him outside into the open so they could talk without worrying about Minho hearing them. “Where the fuck have you been? You just disappeared!” Woojin just gaped at the younger in shock.

 

“I… I had some things to tend to-”

 

“The police showed up here, Woojin!” Woojin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “yeah! Those guys you beat up the other day? They filed a lawsuit. The cops are looking for you,” Chan snapped, arms crossed over his chest. “Woojin are you a criminal? Is Minho harboring a fugitive? You didn’t know your own phone number, you look at everything as if it’s new to you and-” Chan cut himself off, bottom lip between his teeth as he tried to calm himself down.

 

“I’m not a criminal, Chan,” Woojin hushed softly, as if he were speaking to a child.

 

“Then what are you?” Chan’s voice cracked, but Woojin knew he couldn’t tell him.

 

“I’m just Woojin,” The mermaid weakly explained, but that seemed to be enough for Chan. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk,” Woojin decided, knowing it was a bad idea but he found himself wanting to spend some time with Chan before he sent him to his death, as bad as that might sound. Chan didn’t fight it, sinking into Woojin’s side when the elder placed a hand between his shoulders and guided him over to the infamous beach where Woojin always

seemed to be at his best.

 

Chan noticed this too but didn’t say anything until they reached the beach and sat down in front of the water that covered their toes every now and again. “You always seem the most comfortable here at the beach,” Chan hushed, staring at Woojin, but Woojin never looked back, eyes locked on the ocean.

 

“The ocean is my home.” Ominous, yes, but not so much that Chan grew suspicious. If anything, it seemed as if he understood everything now. “If you knew that the world was ending, but you had the chance to save yourself, would you take it?” It was a heavy question, but Woojin needed to know. He could save Chan, he deemed the human worthy, and if Chan wanted to be saved, then Woojin would give him that chance.

 

Chan didn’t answer for a while, rolling the question over in his head. “No,” he finally answered after a while.

 

Woojin was surprised but not all the same. “Why not?”

 

Chan glanced at Woojin knowingly before studying the sea. “Because I know saving myself would require me to adapt to something completely different then what I have now,” Woojin wondered if Chan was aware of what Woojin was. “This is my world. If calling for the end of it is necessary, then I can only die with it. It’s my fault after all.” His answer only proved to Woojin that this human was far more insightful then he leads on. Chan had a good head on his shoulders, and Woojin wished he would be more open-minded. “Do what you need to do, Woojin.”

 

The two shared a long, intense look, and Woojin found himself talking before he could think twice about it. “In three days, mass floodings will hit the lowest points of land on Earth. By the end of the month, the entire world will be flooded by water except for the mountains, and the human race will cease to exist.” Chan seemed a little shaken by the information, burying his chin in his knees as he stared out into the ocean. Chan couldn’t help but think that the human race definitely deserved it. “You can save yourself, Chan.”

 

“My point still stands, Woojin,” Chan uttered coldly and Woojin nodded in understanding.

 

“Woojin! We need to get going,” Minho called out suddenly from behind them, and they both swirled their head back to see Minho and Seungmin approaching them, fingers interlocked and as happy as can be. Woojin slowly stood up, wiping the sand off his clothes before helping Chan stand up. Woojin approached the duo without so much as another look in Chan’s direction. “They won’t listen to either of our cries, but they’ll listen to a commander’s. Would you like to do the honors?” Minho winked and Woojin nodded, stepping back and looking toward the city.

 

An echoing shriek traveled from the depths of Woojin’s throat to all throughout the city, shaking the very earth as he called for all of his brethren to join him at the beach. Before he knew it, there were three dozen mermaids kneeling at his feet, ready to go back home to their families. Woojin spoke to them in shrieks, explaining that it was time for them to go home, but Chan was oblivious to this, watching the whole ordeal with wide eyes.

 

Chan didn’t know what to think when all of them stood up and began to run into the water, ditching clothes and throwing rings, bracelets, circlets, and necklaces into the ocean. Chan could barely breathe when he saw many mermaid fins begin to stick out of the water as they all swam off into the horizon toward their colonies. Toward their homes. “You asked what I was…” Woojin suddenly spoke up from behind him, Chan whirling around in mild fright. “I am commander in chief of the coral reef colonies, and I’m willing to make you one of us.”

 

“I can’t, Woojin.” And Woojin knew this. When he looked Chan in the eye, he could see that Chan already knew where he’d be when the flooding hit. He’d be in his tank, doing what he loved, and nothing could ever keep him from that, not even if it meant saving his life.

 

Maybe in another universe, or maybe when Woojin simply closed his eyes, he could see himself with Chan, hunting with him in the open ocean for food. He could see himself with Chan, much like he did with Jisung, and hope that maybe they could live in perfect harmony. It was a dream to him.

 

But none of this mattered to Woojin in the end. He’d remember Chan for a long time, but he realized that when he fell back into the ocean, watching his true form spring to life and his little brother swim along with his fiance for the first time in years, that it was worth it. He was willing to sacrifice billions of lives just to save his home, and he didn’t care if anyone deemed him a monster for thinking so.

 

This was his home, and he’d do anything to keep it safe.

  


“Commander, we are willing to give the human world a chance to start over again. Are there any humans you wish to transfer into the next life before we start the floodings?”

 

“No.”

  


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_“... the mass floodings have struck again after sinking the entire continent of Australia, the Philippines, the Koreas, and most European islands, and this time, America suffered a great loss. Most of the west coast have succumbed to these dangerous tsunamis, and Florida ceases to exist. Scientists say that Africa and South America will be the next countries to face these dangerous phenomenons._

 

_Pray to the heavens above, everyone. We’re going to need it if we want to make it out alive of this treacherous time.”_

 

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[[Moodboard](https://twitter.com/atumun15/status/1133399258693079040)]


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